There have been instances in history when the muses of music have seemed to concentrate in specific areas. During the Renaissance, they took up orbit around Florence and other city states in Northern Italy. Then, after some wandering about Europe, they settled in on Vienna. By the time the calendar advanced into the 20th century, the Muses moved westward - even crossing the Atlantic to hover over New York City. Could it be the San Francisco Bay Area's turn to host the Muses during the 21st century?

I'm ready to bet on it. The Bay Area is becoming both haven and heaven to the masses of musicians who seem to have congregated right here at the Pacific's edge.

Our musical riches range from the cutting edge of the contemporary to the country's acknowledged best of the Baroque or early (pre-1700) music ensembles and just about everything in between. For more information, email info@newmusicbayarea.org or check out http://www.philharmonia.org.

The San Francisco Symphony, Opera and Ballet have, along with San Francisco Performances, achieved world preeminence and are magnets for major composers, performers, technicians and artists. All sponsor performing seasons in venues in San Francisco at Davies Symphony Hall, the War Memorial Opera House and Herbst Theatre. The symphony also performs in Flint Center on the DeAnza College campus in Cupertino.

But the ``big four'' are just

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the tip of the Bay Area's artistic iceberg.

The East Bay has many shining stars in its artistic firmament. Probably the most luminous is Cal Performances, operating from the University of California campus in Berkeley. It has the funding and clout to bring the world's best to perform in the huge, acoustically excellent Zellerbach Auditorium, and more intimate, but no less acoustically outstanding, Hertz Hall, as well as a couple of smaller venues on or near the campus.

During a typical September-through-June season, audiences may enjoy performances by the famous and the infamous: from the Mark Morris to the Trockadero de Monte Carlo dance groups; from Cecilia Bartoli to Arlo Guthrie; the Leipzig Gewandhaus to Russia's Kirov orchestras. Cal Performances also hosts artists such as Yo-Yo Ma and Lang Lang, as well as Masters of Persian Classical Music, the Whirling Dervishes of Damascus and Japan's Kodo performers. Call (510) 642-9988 or visit http://www.calperfs.berkeley.edu.

Another arts presenter in the East Bay is the venerable Four Seasons Concerts, founded in 1958 by Dr. W. Hazaiah Williams. Still going strong, it presents 12 concerts featuring nationally recognized singers, instrumental soloists and small ensembles from October through April. Performing venues are the Calvin Simmons Auditorium, 10 Tenth St., in Oakland; Holy Names College, 3500 Mountain Blvd; Oakland; Roda Theatre, 2015 Addison St., Berkeley, and Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco. Call (510) 601-7919 or visit http://www.fourseasonsconcerts.com.

Some of the creme de la creme of regional orchestras also call the East Bay home. Among these are the Oakland East Bay Symphony (OEBS), under the charismatic leadership of Michael Morgan. The orchestra's main venue is the deliciously Art Deco Paramount Theatre, 2100 Broadway, Oakland. It attracts the most happily diverse audience possible, all the while offering genuinely excellent concerts that feature both newly commissioned works and classics, as well as forays into folk, jazz and soul. It often includes community or youth musical groups right up onstage alongside its regular classical musicians.

The Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, generally performing in Zellerbach Hall, boasts a conductor who is one of the world's most sought-after musicians: Kent Nagano. Because of a thorough dedication to his longtime Berkeley musical colleagues, Nagano miraculously manages to take time out from his major assignments in Berlin, Munich, Great Britain or Los Angeles to fly ``home'' to conduct his Berkeley friends in what usually turns out to feature some of the most fascinating, innovative and probing concerts in the Bay Area.

Another choice East Bay orchestra is the Pacific Chamber Symphony, headed up by its founding maestro, Lawrence Kohl. Although it had its beginnings in San Leandro in the East Bay, the ensemble presents concerts throughout Northern California in Pleasanton, Napa, Lafayette and San Francisco.

The 52-year-old-Fremont Symphony performs five regular subscription concerts and three ``Family Concerts'' annually in the acoustically excellent Smith Center for Fine and Performing Arts on the Ohlone College campus, 43600 Mission Blvd., Fremont. David Sloss is its long-time conductor.

The 42-year-old Diablo Symphony Orchestra, performing under the baton of Joyce Johnson-Hamilton, routinely presents six quality concerts annually from the Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek. Call (925) 943-1469 or visit http://www.diablosymphony.org.

Also performing at the Lesher Center is the splendid California Symphony, under the gifted hand of Maestro Barry Jekowsky. It presents two performances of four different concerts annually. The orchestra also presents a unique Family Concert that features an ``instrumental petting zoo.''

If that's not enough, there are ample East Bay opera and choral groups. The creatively adventurous Berkeley Opera never fails to pique and please with its three operas usually scheduled for late January, April and July and presented in the small but picturesque Julia Morgan Theatre.

More grand opera is served up each summer by the impressive Festival Opera, headed by Michael Morgan at the Dean Lesher facility in Walnut Creek. Several top quality performances of two operas are routinely presented in July and August. This year's featured shows are Puccini's ``Tosca''' and Mozart's ``Don Giovanni.''

Another smaller - but similarly high-quality - operatic organization is the Oakland Lyric Opera. With the support of Oakland's Chapel of the Chimes, the Oakland Lyric presents an intimate series of Sunday Afternoon Musicale & Tea concerts each year. Check http://www.oaklandlyricopera.org for information.

Significantly, something all of the foregoing have in common is a commitment to educational outreach activities geared to attract and build new audiences. These include youth training programs, visits by the organizations' performers to area schools, seductive Web sites and creative public relations activities.

What, after all is the point of having great music if there are no audiences?

As a final note, don't forget the inexpensive (often free) high-quality musical recitals and programs presented throughout the year by many area colleges, universities, high schools and even elementary schools. Most welcome the general public.